Meeting Minutes Saturday May 12th, 2018 
10:00-11:00 Special Interest Group Lectures-  on Artificial Intelligence Special Interest Group based on leafproject.org by Dr. Bruce, discusses AI and Navigation topics (Neato Robotics Lidar, Python, SLAM, navigation, velocity scaling).  
11:00-12:00 Class - Mars Rover Driver from JPL John Wright
12:00-12:30 Break - bring your snacks or lunch
12:35-12:45 Business Meeting
1:15 - 3:00 Show-N-Tell - Show us what you are working on! Open to anyone to show what they are working on or ask for opinions and getting possible solutions.  Impress us with your best creation!

​10:00 AM AI Special Interest Group session by Dr. Bruce Weimer.
Dr. Bruce covered topics on AI, Machine Learning and Deep Learning

11:00 John gave updates to the Mars Opportunity and Curiosity rovers.  He showed the wear and tear of Curiosity’s wheels from driving over rocks, as well as a map of the Mars terrain.  He showed a simulation video of the recent InSight mission launched May 5, 2018 (short for Interior Exploration using Seismic Investigations, Geodesy and Heat Transport).  See https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/missions/insight/ for further information.   Also a video was shown for MarCO (Mars Cube One), communication satelites, also launched on May 5, 2018.  See the following website for more information: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/cubesat/missions/marco.php .  Lastly, he briefly discussed the year 2020 project known as the Helicopter mission: https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.php?feature=7121 .
Also we learned about the extreme temperatures on Mars, the solar day is slightly more than earth’s, and the atmosphere being mostly carbon-dioxide.

Show-N-Tell

Trish T: discussed the possibility of having the WRO (World Robotic Olympiad) at the same time as the August 2018 meeting.  She requested RSSC members to participate using our own robots.  It was suggested that she use the adjacent room to where we meet monthly.

Bob H:  presented tentative rules for the “Clear The Table” contest.  The contest objective is to gather 3 different color soda cans and throw them in the trash.  Rules will be posted on this website shortly.  Tentative contest date will be October 13, 2018 meeting.

Mitch A.: discussed the NAB (broadcasting) show in Las Vegas last month, where an autonomous robot arm moved and followed the motions of a person dancing and moving their arms.

Jim N: demonstrated a 6 speed planetary gear transmission that he printed out 3D and brought it assembled.  He showed shifting of each gear.  The design was downloaded from Thingiverce website.  He also demonstrated  the AIY voice synthesizer kit (see: https://aiyprojects.withgoogle.com/voice/ )  It is an API voice product that talks in many languages.

Thomas M: showed a video of Betty 9 riding on a Segway.  He turns the robot direction by offsetting the weight of the robot and leans it forward to go forward.   He also showed the Mars Helicopter video which was mentioned in John’s presentation.  He also showed a video of a walking Xrobot.

Charles K: discussed NVIDIA model P2597 computer developer kit (Jetson – TS2 product), and gave us the specifications.   He also mentioned the Segway Mobile Robot Sidekick and Mini Personal Transporter made by LOOMO.  LOOMO has good response while turning and going over bumps.  It has auto-follow and obstacle-avoidance features.  See: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/loomo-mini-transporter-meets-robot-sidekick#/

2018 Schedule
​Classes:
- Jan: Arduino, WiFi and the ESP8266 by Carl Sutter
- Feb: 
- Mar: 
- Apr: Pepper by Walter Martinez
- May: Mars Rover Driver John
- June: 3D print by Ben
- July: 
- Aug: 
- Sept: 
- October: 
- Nov:
- Dec: Officer Elections & Pizza Party      
Contests:
- Jan: None
- Feb: Color Line Following
- Mar:
- Apr: 
​- May: 
- June: 
- July: Color Line Following
- Aug: ​
- Sept: Outdoor Autonomous Cars
- October: “Clear The Table” contest
- Nov: 
- Dec: ​Talent Contest